Kichnar Orbital Station
Kichnar Orbital Station (or KOS) is a huge, multi-component station orbiting high in the tumultuous atmosphere of Kichnar. It was founded as prospecting platform, with a single test drill-shaft and meager facilities, and then evolved into a mining/harvesting rig, processor, way-station, and finally a bonafide city. The station is constituted by several modules all bound together. Because of the chaotic, dangerous nature of Kichnar's atmospheric storms, the city is mobile — able to navigate, albeit slowly, to another region. For this reason, there are no hard connections between the famous Sloan Drydocks and shipbuilding facilities in higher orbit. Corporate and supply offices are located on the station, though. The station-city acts as the capital of Kichnar's populace, which is divided between the station, the starwright facilities, and Kichnar's moons. The entire populated region is called Halona for senatorial/delegate purposes. After the short lived Imperial invasion of Caspar in 24 ABY (43 ISY) Kichnar became the main port of the CDU, and the only port authorized to handle traffic to or from the outside universe. The port also became a CSA facility, overseen directly by the OOAG. History Just A Drilling Hobby With the prospect of tapping into another source of marketable gases and substances, a small team of miners and technicians constructed a small, ad-hoc rig in low orbit over Kichnar. In no small feat, it would actually harvest gas and compress it, albeit in small amounts because of its limited, small-scale capacity. The rig was cyclically disabled by meteor showers and electrical storms, and rebuilt. Meteors were a near-constant threat to anything in this section of the system, as Kichnar is astride two major asteroid belts, as well as having hundreds of smaller satellites and four ring belts of its own. Numerous meteors are pulled down into the gas giant yearly, and the hailstorm-like proportions they arrive in wreak havoc. If this bombardment doesn't squelch a venture, then the electrical and wind storms that ravage the atmosphere certainly do. Indeed, the Old Republic prospectors kept pressing on, building onto the ever-to-be-fixed rig as need demanded. When the galactic government changed hands in 19 BBY, business and routine just continued, albeit under "new management". Unlike Mergansar and Caspar, which incurred much more restrictive scrutiny than the virtually unpopulated gas giant, Kichnar did in fact benefit from Imperial presence. Frequently, engineering and technically-sound types on leave from the Imperial garrison at Groton, Caspar, would drop by to see how the rig was holding up, and what improvements could be made to it. Soon, the little makeshift rig was filling out into a much more capable, and surviveable, facility. Most of its structure was "appropriated material", scrounged or liberated from Imperial wares that were either surplus, unused, or "never missed". Making It Worthwhile After fifteen years of work, the little rig had become a much more substantial waystation. There now was a top-of-the-line drilling system (reclaimed and imported from a damaged and written off station further out in the Outer Rim), as well as various other amenities. Post Imperial Invasion After the short lived Imperial invasion of Caspar in 24 ABY (43 ISY), Kichnar came largely under the control of the Etti group and Zeak Oppenhiemer. The treaty ending the conflict, and re-establishing CDU neutrality requires the CSA's OOAG to oversee all traffic going into and out of the CDU. The influx of new capital and all the traffic has resulted in a significant expansion to the station. The population has also changed as many CSA employees has emigrated to the station; the exiled Griffons have also benefited from their connection to Zeak Oppenheiemer, expanding their footprint and playing a large role in new shipping industries. ---- Category:Space Stations